Knock Down My Walls
by endingunplanned
Summary: Taylor is trying to get through life with an alcoholic father and cope with the loss of her mom. Can Chad pull her out of a hole she has been digging for herself for more than a year and show her its ok to love without fear of losing? A chaylor story
1. A busy morning for Taylor McKessie

The sun was shining as it peered in through the make shift blinds of Taylor's room. She stirred slightly, adjusting her head on her pillow as she turned herself around, eyes shut, still sleeping. Her soft breathing was going in and out as her little sister, Neveah slept in the bed beside her, she too sleeping soundly. This peace was cut short as her alarm went off with a blast that shook her awake almost instantly. She quickly reached a slender hand out from under her thin blanket and turned it off. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, turned her head and peered at the clock. 5:15, Taylor's day had begun.

She silently got up and crept across the floor, careful not to wake her sister up. She got to the dresser stumbling a little as her tired feet tried to adjust to having weight on them. She placed her hands firmly on the dresser and peered in the mirror tiredly. Her eyes were red and barley open, her hair a knotty mess and her tank top and shorts were wrinkled. Taylor felt around for her glasses and placed them on her face as she took a deep breath and stretched. A smile spread across her face as she remembered what day it was.

"First day of school," she said quietly, barely audible to even her.

She turned the water on as hot as it would go as she let the water run across her body. She washed herself slowly, her morning shower was one of the only things that she made sure was not hectic about her day. As she did she ran through a checklist of what she needed to do that morning. Get herself ready was only one of many. She had to do that, clean up the house, wake up her sister, make breakfast for the two of them, get her sister dressed, pack her dads lunch for work, make sure both her and Neveah's back packs were ready to go, wake her dad up, drop her sister off at school, and then go to her own school. She enjoyed her last few moments of peace as she washed the last of the conditioner out of her hair and turned the shower off. She stepped out and wrapped a thin blue towel around her as she opened the door slightly and stepped lightly back to her room.

She peered into her closet for something that she felt would be suitable to wear and pulled out a simple, short black dress, grabbed a red belt and a pair of jeans. She dressed quickly; slipping the dress over her head that came down to her mid thighs and slipping the jeans on under it. She placed the belt under her breast line and tightened it and wrapped a towel around her head. She slipped on a pair of flip-flops and wandered once again out of her room.

She came into the small living room and found her dad, as always, sleeping on the couch, beer loosely in his hand as he snored quietly. Four other bottles similar to the one he was clutching lay on the floor beside him. She pulled the first gently out of his hand and grabbed the others and walked across into the small kitchenette and threw them in the trash. Taylor turned the small TV off, making the house silent as a tomb, the only sound being the small clock on the wall above the door of her bedroom. She went back into the cramped living room and began to pick up the mess her father had left the night before. Picked up the newspaper and placed in the recycling bin and put the magazines back on the table. She placed the pillows back on the lazy boy chair in the corner and turned on the lamp above it, shedding some light into the room. She then walked over the glass door that led out to a small pathetic balcony with a oh so lovely view of the back alley and opened the blinds that concealed it. More light peered into the gloomy apartment. Her dad stirred a little on the couch and Taylor took an afghan out of the closet and placed it on him. She leaned down and kissed his stubbly cheek and he stirred softly once more, rolling onto his back. She walked into the kitchen and found his wallet, she located her own and pulled out two twenties, placing them in his. She figured he would never notice that that money hadn't been there all along, besides, they had to make rent somehow.

Taylor walked back into her room and looked at her clock, 6:00. She took the towel off of her head and the glasses off her face. She put her contacts in her eyes and then walked back over to the closet. She pulled out what she though was a cute pink dress and white tights for her seven-year-old sister. She grabbed them and proceeded to walk across the room to where her sister slept soundly. She gently shook her.

"Neveah," she said quietly, "Neveah its time to get ready for school, it's the first day!"

Neveah stirred and fluttered her eyes open. She starred tiredly at her older sister and glared before pulling the covers over her head and trying to go back to sleep. Taylor found this highly amusing and giggled.

"Neveah don't be silly, you love school. Besides," she said pulling the covers slowly down revealing her sisters face, "You are going to second grade now, you'll get to be on the big kids play ground this year, isn't that exciting?"

She vaguely remembered her mom giving her the same speech ten years ago on her first day of second grade. She smiled as she saw Neveah's face brighten and a smile form around her young face as she sat up.

"Ya and now we can play four square on the black top, and not have to play in the grass!" she said exhilarated, then her face turned completely serious as she said the next thing to Taylor, "You know, you cant bounce the ball very good when you are on the grass."

Taylor did her best to keep out a smile and to nod seriously at her sister, "Yes that was a serious problem, but no more," said Taylor and she lifted her sister up out of bed and placed her feet on the ground, "because now you can bounce the ball as high as you want. And by the way, you can't bounce the ball very _well _not good."

She lifted her sisters night gown over her head and helped her get her dress and tights on, she told her to brush her hair as she plugged in her blow dryer and proceeded to do her own. As she did this she watched as Neveah pulled a step stool up to the dresser and stepped onto it so she could see herself as she brushed our her tangles.

When the two of them were done getting ready for the morning, she packed up her sisters' backpack with her new supplies and led her into the kitchenette. She placed some cartoons on and put two bagels into the toaster. While her sister was busy laughing as sponge bob tried to catch jellyfish, instead entrapping Squidwerd in his net, she got a cup out of the cabinet and filled it halfway up with water. She placed it on the coffee table next to where her dad was heavily sleeping and went into the bathroom. She got three aspirin and placed it on the table next to the glass and went back into the kitchen.

She hurried her sister along when it came time to eat. She looked at her clock 6:50. She quickly made a sandwich for her dad and put it in a bag on the corner of the counter. She walked over to him and shook him a little harder that she had Neveah.

"Dad wake up, you have to go to work, " she said this to him while pushing his shoulder back and forth, "Come on dad you cant be late again." He stirred and opened his eyes, letting out a loud groan.

"What time is it?"

"6:54 to be exact now come on get up."

He rubbed his head with his big hand as he stood up and looked around confused; she blinked a few times trying to adjust his vision, failing miserably and falling back down onto the couch.

"No Dad, you have to get up, they said you can't be late again, remember?"

"Screw them, Ill call in sick, my head is pounding anyways."

"Dad no you cant, besides, you wouldn't want to disappoint your daughters now would you?"

He opened one eye, his hand still on his forehead as he looked at his daughter smiling. She was fully dressed and ready to go, responsible and on top of things as always. He lifted his head slightly and peered over towards the kitchen table as Neveah laughed at the TV, he smiled at her too. "I guess not," he said looking at Taylor, "Got to make my girls proud."

Taylor leaned foreword and kissed him on the forehead, "I have to go get her to school, and me as well, Ill see you later Daddy." She stood up and grabbed her rolly backpack and her sisters also and shuffled her out the door. She walked out slamming it, only to come back a minute later to grab her own bagel, throw it in a bag and shut the TV off.

After dropping her sister off Taylor rolled into the parking lot of East High. She glanced at the car clock that read 7:15 as she pulled into parking spot number 88. She turned the car off, got out and started walking towards the entrance to the school, past the fountain and mounds of people trying to get off the bus and into the building. She finally found her way in and went immediately to her homeroom to drop her backpack off finding Ms. Darbus to not be there yet, which was slightly unusual. Not thinking much of it she grabbed her papers and left the room. She had made flyers for the first Scholastic Decathlon meeting, which would be that Thursday after school. The paper read:

SCHOLASTIC DECATHLON MEETING ROOM B407 3:00 

We will be voting on captain, choosing our subjects

and eating. Come on by and don't be afraid to join

the fun!

If you have any questions you can contact Ms. Droden or Taylor McKessie.

She walked on by, hanging them around the campus, occasionally slipping them into a locker when she knew it was one of her friends from the team. She hadn't been doing this for two minutes when she ran into Gabriella; doing the same thing with the posters she had given her that weekend.

"Gabs!" she said as she walked towards her smiling, "Nice posters."

Gabriella laughed, "Thanks Taylor, I've been here since seven passing them out, my Aunt had to go to work early today so she dropped me off then.

Gabriella's mom was a busy businesswoman and when she made her company promise that she couldn't be transferred until Gabriella had graduated she agreed to go out of town a lot more. Because her mom had permanent custody over her and her dad didn't have the time or space to keep her in New York, her Aunt Alex, a spunky and crazy short Mexican girl had moved in with them. She was a twenty seven year old girl straight out of beauty school who had just landed a job as a hairdresser at the local _Curl Up and Dye. _ Taylor loved her aunt and especially loved when she offered to do her hair and practice something on the two of them when she spent the night at Gabs house, which was almost every weekend.

The two girls strolled along together hanging up signs, perfectly aware that only the usual people would show to the meeting, maybe a few new freshman and obnoxious upperclassmen wanting to steal food. But they hung the signs anyways, nonchalantly conversing with each other about their hectic mornings. Taylor left out the part about her dad's beer bottles and having to clean, as she always did.

Soon enough the bell rang and Gabriella and Taylor walked into their homeroom together. Homeroom, unlike the rest of your classes, did not change the four years you were at the school. So for the past four years Taylor had been stuck with this group of people, of which she thoroughly loathed until last year when Gabs had came. Everyone was scurrying around like nervous mice trying to find a seat; Taylor observed the occurrence like she had every year, with blatant confusion and curiosity as to why they tried. Everyone knew Darbus had written up a seating chart, which was the one thing that changed year to year. She herself sat in the last open seat. It wasn't one she liked at all, thank god they were moving because she was cursed with sitting right next to none other than Chad Danforth. The obnoxious curly haired dolt who loved nothing more than annoying Taylor and getting her all flustered. Next to him was Troy, the nicer and more level headed of the two. She had actually decided through out the eight months him and Gabs had been dating that he wasn't such a bad guy. And of course on his right sat Gabriella, they were in deep conversation about something that Taylor couldn't make out. On the other side of her she had the demonic twins, Sharpay and Ryan. Ryan sat there twiddling his thumbs—literally, as Sharpay pulled out a small compact adjusting her overly hair sprayed fake blonde tresses that wouldn't move no matter what she did to them. She smiled at herself and puckered her lips before abruptly shutting the compact and looking over at Taylor who had been caught staring.

"What is it McKessie? Never seen a compact before?" she stared her down slowly, observing every inch of her body and outfit, then peering at her face, inspecting every inch of her skin. It made Taylor feel somewhat awkward as she crossed her arms over herself protectively. Sharpay smirked at her, "Actually, it doesn't appear that you have." And with that she pulled out her cell phone and began texting away. Taylor rolled her eyes and turned away, choosing to ignore that comment as she looked at the person in front of her. Jason Cross. Once again she thanked her lucky stars they were moving because if she had to go through another year listening to Jason's un thought out comments and blatantly stupid jokes she might actually contemplate self-mutilation. She nonchalantly looked behind her shoulder to see who was sitting behind her, Kelsi Nielson. Now that she could handle. She would have no problem if when the time came that Darbus pulled out the laminated sheet of seats for the year her name was next to Kelsi's. She was quiet and only spoke if she really had something important to say, Taylor liked that, she usually didn't talk that much in the mornings anyway. But the seating as it went just wasn't going to fly with her. Maybe Ms. Darbus would sit her next to Gabriella and Pricilla, her Scholastic friends, they were quiet, and she could trust them. She hadn't had much time to think this over before Ms. Darbus herself came rushing through the door with her bag, looking quite flustered.

She walked over to her desk and threw her stuff onto it, she adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses and turned to face the class, stepping onto her makeshift stage.

"Please excuse my tardiness class, as I was in the theatre cleaning the sound booth."

Taylor watched out of the corner of her eye as Sharpay and Ryan exchanged glances, wondering if they were supposed to be part of that cleaning crew.

"As a result of that, and the fact that I am relocating myself to a different part of town, I have been very frazzled lately and not my usual level headed self."

This got a few snorts from the basketball players in the room. Taylor leaned foreword and gave Gabriella a look as they both smiled. This reaction from the class earned them all glares from Ms. Darbus before she continued.

"So I am sorry to announce that tryouts for the new play will not be this week but next week, as I am still choosing the actual production."

Whispers floated throw the room like a slight breeze from both sides of the room, Gabs and Troy exchanged a few words while Sharpay and Ryan sounded like they were already plotting.

"Furthermore I have not had the chance to make up a seating chart for this class, so for the rest of the year, these will be your seats."

Taylor looked up, shocked, as cheers were heard throughout the room and high fives were exchanged. How? After three years she decides not to make a seating chart? She couldn't believe she was going to be stuck next to the most obnoxious people in the class for a full nine months.

"This is going to be a great year," she said quietly and bitterly to herself as the bell for first period rang.


	2. A hard morning, a late night

Taylor lay in bed, tossing and turning in the middle of the night as the rumble of the city streets echoed across her thin walls. She was dreaming of her mother again, the same dream she always had. She saw her mom leaving, walking out the door, trying desperately to say something. But Taylor couldn't hear it. She kept repeating herself, but no words were coming out of her lips. Taylor tried to walk towards her, but she just kept getting farther and farther away. Taylor ran to catch up to her, wanting to know what she was saying, that final goodbye before she left. But just as she got close, close enough to touch her hand, to clutch the delicate fingers within her own, to hug closely the mother that had raised her to be who she was, the mother who Taylor resembled so closely, before they could grasp each other, darkness flashed. A screeching of tire wheels were heard, glass shattering and flying across the night sky like diamonds. Screams pierced her eardrums. Then the darkness lifted. It was her, in a room alone. A wall surrounded her and something unknown. She wasn't sure what was beyond that wall, but she was sure of one thing. Her mother was gone. Forever. Taylor cried, but no sounds came out, it was just her alone in the room with the wall.

Taylor awoke with a start. She was sweating from head to toe. She sat up and looks towards her sister's bed, making sure she was asleep as she wiped the tears from her own eyes. She had that dream at least once a week since her mom died and every time it had the same affect on her. She tried to shake it off that morning while getting everything ready, but it seemed to hit her harder today. She thought that maybe it would get better once she got to school.

She got there and went through the motions, which wasn't hard, it was only the second day and all they had to do was turn in their signed parent forms that say they agree to the rules. Half of the students forged those anyways. So as she walked into anatomy she expected it to be the same way. She shuffled into the classroom and sat down in her seat. She didn't know who her partner was; they had been absent in that class the first day. Who missed the first day of school? She had come to the conclusion that it was probably due to some schedule mix up. So when the curly haired basketball player slid into the seat next to her, you could say she was a little surprised. She was so not in the mood for this.

"Hey Taylor," said Chad casually as he passed his permission form up.

"Hello," she answered without looking up as she shuffled through papers in her folder, finally pulling out the pink, signed slip of paper and passing it foreword. Her elbow grazed the pencil on her desk, causing it to roll off. She reached down to grab it, but not before Chad, who snatched it up and handed it to her.

"Nice move," he said smiling as he held it out for her. She said nothing as she went to take it, his hand lingered a little too long on hers. She coughed uncomfortably as she looked foreword. They hadn't really had a civil conversation since the after party. That night Chad got completely smashed, which reminded Taylor too much of her father. She flipped out on him and left. She knew she might have been overreacting, but she didn't care, she couldn't handle seeing people like that, especially after her father was like that almost every night. So she built up an emotional wall towards him, something she had gotten really good at. It was so easy for her to hide her emotions, it all started when her mom died. She saw her whole family fall apart, completely shaken by the whole situation…that she never cried. Not in front of anyone anyways, ever. She didn't shed a tear at the funeral. She felt as though, from then on, that she had to be strong for them.

Chad looked at her confused, it was so obvious he had a thing for her, and so obvious she wasn't interested. She was unlike any girl he had ever been with, she intrigued him. He thought she was beautiful, and smart. It was more than just a physical attraction to her that drew him to her so strongly, much more. And he knew that she felt something, how could she not? Not after what they went through with each other last year. He just looked at her, not realizing she had caught his stare.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked impatiently as he snapped out of his gaze and looked her in the eye.

"Uhh…nope. Nothing at all," He flashed a smile at her, "So are you busy this weekend?"

"Too busy for you, as always," she said this coldly once again without even looking up from her paper.

"Why do you have to be like that, what did I ever do to you? Its not like I hooked up with someone else right in front of you, I would never do that."

"You're still talking about that silly party, I'm over it," she had run out of things to shuffle through, she even had her calculus binder out, and had shuffled through that, even though they were in anatomy.

"Ha, ya right you're over it. If you were over it you could actually look me in the eye when we talk now," and with that he turned away and focused on his own papers, slightly beaten down. Taylor was red, looked around to make sure no one had heard that little spheal and tried to get through the rest of class about as focused as she could, today was not turning out so great.

Come lunch time the day had not gotten any better, and the dream was still on her mind, she shuffled around her gross school lunch oh chili cheese fries and just looked down at the bright red table.

"Hey Tay, you alright?" asked her best friend Gabriella who was sitting there doing her math homework that had been assigned the period before.

"Ya, rough night that's all," she said as casually as she could. To tell you the truth, Gabriella had never even been to Taylor's house. No one had. She never invited people over, and when they asked, she just came up with a sly excuse for them not to. Gabs did know that her mom had died, but she was the only one. Taylor didn't live in the neighborhood of the school; she had a variance, or permission to go. Her apartment was in a rundown neighborhood south of the school, she didn't want people to know where she lived.

"Want to talk about it?" Gabs asked concerned, she knew how Taylor could be, reserved and not really wanting to talk about her feelings at all, Gabriella tried her best to coax it out of her, but rarely did that go anywhere, so she usually gave up, if Taylor didn't want to talk about it, so far no one could make her.

"Nope, Ill be ok," she plastered a fake smile on her face, another thing she was really good at.

"Want to stay the night this weekend?" And that caused a real smile to go over her face; she loved staying the night at Gabs.

"Did you even have to ask?" with that the conversation took off, and Taylor's day became a little bit better.

* * *

Later that day Taylor was at work, looking through at the clock, it was her turn to clean the kitchen today at home, but her boss had asked her to stay late. She really needed the money so she agreed to do it but now as the seconds and minutes before her dad would be home crept closer, she was becoming more and more uneasy. Her and Neveah took turns cleaning the kitchen, well her little sister tried anyways, but tonight was her turn. She kept watching the clock hung on the wall. It was 8:45. Her dad got off of work at 7:30; the bar was fifteen minutes away from his office, which means 7:45. He spent at least an hour there, that means 8:45. It took him around 6 to 7 minutes to find which car was his depending on how many beers he had had. That means around 8:51. She cut a piece of bread for a sandwich she was making for a customer. The bar was ten minutes away from home, that means around 9, it took him 3 minutes to park, 9:03, 2 minutes to get to the apartment, one minute to actually figure out which key was the right one, then he's in. That's means at around 9:06 he was due home. She would never make it, even if she left now. Her stomach did a flip as she wrapped up the stupid sandwich and absentmindedly handed it to the lady who gave her an impatient glare and asked for her change.

"Oh I'm so sorry," Taylor said with her practiced caring voice. She handed the lady her change, turned around to go to the back and rolled her eyes. If she had the guts she would have spit in her sandwich. Taylor looked around; most people had left for the night. There were not many people left at the local Duck and Decanter, the small sandwich shop where she worked, maybe she could ask her boss if it was ok if she left now, she didn't see the problem with it, she was staying here on her own accord anyways. Just as she was about to ask her boss if she could leave, when she herself came striding around the corner like she had been looking for someone, when her eyes landed on Taylor she stopped suddenly.

"Taylor McKessie, just the girl I was looking for, I'm going to need you to close up." She said this in a way that really doesn't have a way out, if she wanted to be any clearer she could have said, _Taylor you're fucking closing up or ill kill everything you have ever loved._ You pretty much have way out.

"Oh but Ms. –" Taylor tried before getting interrupted, it seemed she didn't want to be able to hear an excuse that would actually be valid, so she cut her off.

"Please Taylor, Ill pay you double, and I really have to go, my child is sick and my sister has to be somewhere so I have no babysitter," she said without even a hint of urgency, almost like it was a lie, not that Taylor would for one second question. Taylor sighed, looked at the clock, which read 8:55, and her stomach was in knots. She knew she had to close up so she just nodded, and with that, her boss was gone.

A half hour later Taylor was practically running to her car, hoping, praying that above all odds she could beat her dad home. _Maybe he got a flat tire. _She was keeping her hopes up, she knew if she got home and if he had been drinking that anything could make him mad. That was the last thing she wanted as she pulled into her parking spot, and got up to her door as fast as she could. She pulled out her apartment key, only to find that the door was unlocked. She opened the door with her cold sweaty hands and stepped inside. She had a cold sweat running down her face, the kind you get when you are so incredibly nervous that you are surprised you can function. She looked around the semi dark room, looked towards the kitchen that was clean. _Maybe Neveah cleaned it._ A seven year old? Doing chores on her own? She highly doubted this. She turned around to see her dad behind her, staggering along, looking extremely angry.

"Uh, hi dad, I had to um—" she didn't get to finish her sentence before he interrupted. When he was drunk he was no longer the loving caring dad that she was used to, he didn't even seem like the same person, he was a man driven by despair and hatred, and she hated to be in his way.

"I asked you to do one thing, one fucking thing and you couldn't do it," he growled angrily as he came toward her slowly.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I had to work late, they asked me to close down I couldn't say no," her voice was shaky now as she backed up, giving some space between him and her.

He was angry now; you could see his face curl into a distorted scowl. His face was red and sweaty, and he even had a beer clutched in his hand. "DO YOU THINK," he exploded suddenly, out of the corner of Taylor's eye she could see Neveah run over and close the bedroom door, "THAT I WORK MY FUCKING ASS OFF, TO KEEP THIS FAMILY IN THIS APARTMENT, JUST SO YOU CAN GO OFF, COME HOME WHENEVER YOU LIKE IT, AND THINK THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RESPONSIBILITIES?"

He wasn't himself and she knew it, but nonetheless she hated who he was and she just wanted to get away. She felt hot tears swell in the corner of her eyes, as her face grew hot with humiliation.

"No dad," she said quietly trying to back away more, but hitting the kitchen table, "I don't think that."

"ALL I WANT TO DO IS COME HOME TO A CLEAN HOUSE, THAT'S ALL I ASK OF YOU AND YOU JUST WONDER OFF AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, YOU ARE SO FUCKING STUPID!" He screamed in her face now, spit flying occasionally onto her face as she brought one hand up to shield herself from him. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and just wanted to get out of his way. She was crying now, she couldn't help it; she hated to cry in front of people. She felt weak and defenseless, she cowered under her father.

The hot tears ran down her face, "Dad, no it's not like that, I swear I didn't have a choice!" her voiced raised a bit, a bad decision on her part.

"DON'T FUCKING YELL AT ME!" He said angrily. He raised his hand and smashed the beer bottle against the thin wall, spraying beer and glass all over the both of them, "I'M YOUR FATHER AND YOU WILL TREAT ME WITH RESPECT, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

At this point Taylor had lost her voice, she didn't think she could speak even if she wanted too, he was scaring her right now, she just nodded in reply. She watched in a daze as her father backed up, and walked into his own room, stumbling a bit as he went. Before he shut the door he turned around and said, "And clean that fucking mess up, it's the least you could do after how you acted tonight."

Taylor was left in the kitchen, tears streaming down her face, looking around and thinking about what had just happened. She was in shock as she picked up the shards of thick glass carefully and threw them away. She didn't want to vacuum out of fear that her dad would think she was being insensitive to others that are sleeping by making noise. So she swept it up as best she could and went into the bathroom. She looked at her tearing eyes in the mirror. She couldn't go into her room like this, she was afraid Neveah would see her crying. She pulled some of the thin toilet paper off of the wheel and cleaned herself up. She calmed herself down by telling herself it would be ok in the morning and he wouldn't even remember it.

Ten minutes later she crawled into bed, but not before checking to make sure that Neveah was sleeping. Although she could tell that she wasn't, and was pretending to by shutting her eyes really tight, she humored her and left her alone, maybe it was best if they didn't talk about it. She fell asleep that night, listening to the world outside that went on like nothing had happened.


	3. Broken down cars and broken down walls

A while had past since that night with her father. That hadn't been the first and it certainly hadn't been the last. However as Taylor walked over to her car that day after her Academic practice, she was feeling quite stressed with herself. Even though the Acadec team had won its past three meets that they had had, she had a ninety 93 in English, which was completely unacceptable. _It was unfair_, she thought as she walked to her car pulling her keys out as she went, _stupid pop quiz on the reading that I had not finished, stupid meet, I wasn't prepared. _She silently reprimanded herself on her failures and how she won't be valedictorian as she walked to her beat up 91 Camry and opened the trunk. She quickly threw her backpack in there and got into the drivers seat.

Basketball season was well under way at East as the autumn leaves fell around the campus and the New Mexico nights started getting cooler. Chad stepped out of the gym, sweat trickling down his face. He was out of his practice jersey, just in a wife beater and basketball shorts, he had stayed after practice to shoot some extra free throws and thought it was about time to head home. He hurriedly walked out into the parking lot, Afro bouncing as he turned on his iPod, he had his gym bag slung lazily around his shoulder as he looked up to see Taylor McKessie putting her backpack into her car. He smiled, he had asked her out many times, tried to apologize, but got nothing in return from her, and yet, she still had something on him. He strolled over to his car, which was about ten spaces off of hers and watched her as he threw his bag into the seat behind him.

Taylor turned the keys of her car and heard a loud sputter, and then nothing. A look of immense shock spread over her face, "Oh. Hell. No." she muttered as she tried the key once again, getting the same result.

Chad looked over seeing and hearing that she was having trouble so he hopped out of his 06 SUV to see if he could help her, throwing his keys onto his seat before he walked over to her.

She saw him coming and rolled her eyes, she tried desperately to get the car going, she had no where to go, but this was just the icing on the cake with her. She tried again as stressed out tears welled in her dark eyes. She held them back as the curly haired terror walked up to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked looking concerned.

"Ya I'm fine," she said a little too quickly as she tried over and over to start the car, it was hopeless.

Chad couldn't help but smile, but he did his best to hide it, he thought she looked cute when she was angry.

"It uh, appears you cant start your car, you know I wouldn't mind giving you a ride," he said pointing to his own car not far away. She peered over at his half heartedly before looking straight at her steering wheel and replying, "No really, Its ok I don't need any help." She tried frantically again to start her beat up car with the cracked windshield before throwing her hands down on the wheel and banging her head against it chanting, "I. Do. Not. Need. This. Right. Now."

Chad placed a shoulder on hers to stop her head bashing before replying, "No, but you may need a ride, and I really wouldn't mind giving you one."

Taylor was well aware that her car wouldn't start now, however the last thing she wanted was to get into a car with him, she looked around as the sun was falling behind some clouds, the parking lot was empty besides a few teachers cars. She placed her feet out of her car about to stand up when she looked up to see Chad's hand there waiting to help her. She looked at it and then looked up at him who just stared at her.

"Taylor, it's just a hand." Chad said this and looked at her with a little impatience in his voice, it was one thing that she was uninterested, but sometimes she went out of her way to make him feel bad.

She reluctantly took it. His hand grasped firmly around her delicate one as she stepped out of her car, her three inch heels supporting her firmly as she stood up next to Chad, barely coming up past his shoulders.

"Now really, come on, Ill give you a ride." He looked serious, like she could really trust this guy, but she couldn't, and she wouldn't let herself. She had learned the hard way people are not trusted easily in this world, and men should never be trusted. She placed her wall firmly between her and Chad as she reached down and pressed a button to open her trunk as she walked around and got her backpack out. She looked up at Chad's face, he thought she was going with him; she quickly put a stop to that dream.

"Really Chad," she hesitated like the next words pained her to say them, "thanks for the offer," she popped her handle up on her backpack, "But Ill just walk."

There was no possible way she could walk all the way to her house; it was a good five miles away. She was just hoping to get down the block before calling Gabs and begging her to drop her off at her work, before calling her dad, or someone to come pick her up from there. But Chad looked at her like she was crazy; he looked down at what she was wearing, and then at her shoes.

"You cant walk in that, especially those," he said this while staring at them like they should burst into demonic flames. "No," he said firmly, "I wont let you, now come on Taylor don't be ridiculous, I'm not trying to hit on you, or ask you out, I'm not drunk or anything like that," he said that last part with a hint of sarcasm like he was bitter about the way she was treating him for what he had done. Its not like he tried to do anything besides kiss her while he was wasted, "I'm just trying to help you out and give you a ride, now could you humor me and let me do that?" He asked a little impatiently, like a parent would ask a child to do something that was simple, but knowing that the child would just moan and groan. Taylor looked a little taken aback, she stared him down making sure he was sincere before rolling her eyes and finally agreeing to go with him. She pulled her purse, keys, and phone out of the car before finally turning and following Chad. He went around and opened the door for her, she found herself smiling at that, which shocked her and she quickly wiped it off before mumbling a half-hearted thank you. She looked around his car, it was insanely clean, something she hadn't expected from him. The floors were neatly vacuumed and the windows didn't have one spec of dirt on it. The only non-sanitary looking thing in the whole car was his gym bag that was half opened with a basketball sticking out of the side. She buckled her seat belt and locked her door before he got in and did the same thing. The sun was starting to fall behind the New Mexico Mountains as he pulled out of East's parking lot.

"So why are you here so late anyways?" Chad asked curiously as she turned onto the rush hour traffic and instantly was behind a pile of impatient cars.

"Acadec," she said trying her best to sound bored as she admired everything that was in his car, "then I stayed after in the library and did some homework and studied."

Chad glanced over at her quickly before his eyes went back onto the road, "Study? You actually do that, you know you would pass without doing any of that, right?" he said quite surprised that someone put effort into their education especially when it was her.

"Contrary to popular belief Chad, I am no genius," Taylor said modestly," and actually, I am not doing too hot in one of my classes." She sat looking out the window bitterly, that 93 was going to be the bane of her existence, all she could think about was how community college was calling her name ever since she got that grade sheet back.

"Why? What do you have a 95?" Chad replied teasingly, he knew that Taylor couldn't be doing badly, and she did have a slight drama queen streak.

Taylor once again shot a glare and looked towards him only to find him staring straight at her. The light was red again and they were behind what seemed like an endless line of cars. She looked into his dark eyes only to find herself momentarily lost in them, they were so deep, and something in there was seemed to flicker when she looked at him. She felt her stomach flip and she snapped herself out of it. This was Chad, Chad Danforth, ignorant stupid Chad. _He actually doesn't seem that stupid_. She pushed that thought out of her head too, pulling that wall back up again. She stuttered through her next sentence, the momentary weakness still draining out of her.

"Actually I have a 93 thanks," she said this coolly and looked back out the window at the boring city.

Chad actually laughed at her, which made her a little angry, why was he laughing in her face as she dwelled on what would ruin her entire chance at a scholarship?

"Its not funny," she snapped, "A 93 is horrible. I expect better of myself."

Chad searched her face to make sure there actually was no sarcasm in that, when he realized that there was in fact none, and he was looking at the ultimate over achiever he looked at her in disbelief, "You cant be serious," he said plainly. She returned a look that let him know that she was not joking in any way, shape, or form. The light turned green and cars immediately started honking trying to get the others to move, Chad pressed the gas calmly as he glanced over at her periodically.

"You know a 93 is an A right?"

"Of course I know it's an A Chad!"

"Well then why are you freaking out about it?"

"Because I can do better that's why!" They stopped at another red light; they hadn't made one so far. Chad pressed on the breaks a little too firmly causing both of them to fall foreword a little in their seats.

"Taylor," he said calmly turning to her again, "I don't know if anyone has ever told you this before, but you are brilliant. Any college would be insane to not offer you a full ride the second your application comes in. And ok maybe a 93 is a low A, but it is still an A, and it's obvious you are going to bring it up before the actual semester grades come up, so don't sweat it." He pressed on the gas again as the light turned green and took his eyes off her and back on the road. This was fortunate because Taylor was looking at him with the most confused expression she could give. How could someone she had been so mean to, so impatient with, be so nice to her. How could he just say those things, and not just say them, but mean them too. Maybe she had been wrong about this guy.

"Maybe you're right," she mumbled looking down at her hands, she saw out of the corner of her eye that he was smiling at her, she had to admit she loved that smile, it made her melt.

"Did The Taylor McKessie just agree with me? With me!?" He mocked her as they turned a corner in another even more crowded street, thank god she really didn't have to be at work like she had told him, because she would have definitely been late.

"Shut up," she said a smile spreading on her face, "It doesn't happen to a lot of people so you should feel privileged."

"Oh I do!" Chad replied putting his hand over his heart, "really it's not everyday you talk to me, let _alone_ agree with me," he smiled playfully at her as the now inviting red light came upon them, "seriously, I feel like a whole new window of opportunity has been opened up to me now."

Taylor rolled her eyes at him and laughed, "You know I don't have to take that attitude from you," she said jokingly looking up at him, into those eyes that she had just recently grown to absolutely love.

"Oh what are you going to do? Pull a tuck and roll out of the car as I'm speeding down the highway?" he looked at her daringly as he pressed on the gas again. Her laughter echoed through the car like a choir in an empty church. Chad smiled at the sound of it. She made him feel like no girl ever had, she was someone different, someone special, he knew it.

"You know what? Maybe I will!" Taylor felt more comfortable now as the traffic started to speed up; it was weird how at the beginning of the ride she was loathing a guy she was now laughing with. As the car ride went on they talked about everything, from what was going on with him to her academic decathlon team. They even shared a common hatred for the fact that Troy and Gabriella were always talking to each other, whether it be at school or via text messaging, they never stopped. She found herself actually upset when they pulled into her work and she stepped out of his car, her head was already below the hood of the car so she didn't have to duck down to say her last goodbyes to him.

"Thanks for the ride Chad, it was an…adventure," she actually giggled as she grabbed her purse and slung it around her shoulder. A genuine girly giggle which made her check herself and make sure she was not wearing a wildcat cheer uniform before opening his back door and grabbing her backpack.

"Anytime, thanks for being civil."

"Shut up, I still don't like you" she rolled her eyes and laughed as he smiled and waved goodbye and she slammed the door.

She made a call to her dad as she walked inside and watched Chad drive away.

"Hey dad? My car broke down at school today and I managed to get a ride to my work, could you come pick me up?"

It was pre-bar dad that she was talking to, the kind that was actually nice, he had no problem picking her up and bringing her home. So she ordered a sandwich and waited patiently for him to come.

When she finally layed down in bed after cleaning up the kitchen she called up Gabriella and told her all about it.

"Taylor, you have not spoken this way about Chad since you were plotting against me and Troy."

"Ya I know," Taylor said twisting a piece of hair in between her fingers, just thinking of his smile, "But today was different, I mean…he was nice…and just, I don't know."

"Taylor McKessie you like this boy don't you!" Gabriella sounded ecstatic, a little too excited for Taylor's liking.

"What? No! I don't like him…I don't, really…no." She tried her best to sound convinced but then she slipped into thinking about the way he just looked at her like she was the only one that mattered, the way he acted like he cared like no one in Taylor's life had ever bothered.

"Taylor, you are the biggest liar I have ever heard, you like him its so obvious." You could hear the nosey voice of her aunt Alex already asking who Taylor was all hot and bothered over, before Taylor could complain that she heard what they were saying it sounded like a door had been closed and locked.

"Ok so maybe I do Gabs, but only…a little. And who knows? Maybe hell pull another famous Chad stunt and make me hate him again, for right now I think I'm ok with not admitting to myself that I do in fact have feelings for that boy, it's a little too much to handle." She peered over as Neveah walked into the room looking bored and pulled out a Barbie from under her bed. She sat on her bed and began brushing its hair.

"Fine, but believe me girl, I know you like him, you cant hide it from me. So don't even try."

They talked for a while after complaining about schoolwork and the usual before hanging up. Taylor was getting into her pajama pants five minutes after they said goodbye when her cell phone rang again and she quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"It's me," Gabs said on the other line, you could practically hear the smile in her voice.

"Uh, did you not just hang up on me or is that just my imagination?"

"No I did, you are spending the night this weekend, got it?"

"Uh…ya," Taylor said slowly, she was suspicious, "may I ask why? Not that I would ever refuse this offer."

"Can I not just want to spend a weekend with my best friend?" she replied innocently on the other line.

"No." Taylor said flatly brushing out her hair.

"Fine. My Aunt Alex will do your hair," Gabs sounded desperate, Taylor knew that was not why she was asking her but she took what she could get, "Fine, Ill be there," and with that, she hung up…again.


	4. Dangling by a vine

Rain lightly fell in Albuquerque, New Mexico as the cars zoomed past each other, the streets filled with passerby's just trying to get where they needed to go. The rain could be heard lightly falling on each windshield as they passed by, no one even taking notice to each individual drop as it landed on the window of their car, only looking past to see what was ahead, not paying attention to what was right in front of them. Each little piece, each car, each building, each person, seemed insignificant to the big picture, and Taylor was no exception as she let the windows down and drove through the dreary street, perfectly content and happy. She personally loved the rain, especially when it came down as lightly as it was. She just let the windows down and drove, what did she care? Her car was already beat up enough as it could be, a little rain here and there wouldn't hurt. Besides, New Mexico wasn't exactly known for its downpours, more like its droughts. So as she road that Saturday afternoon to Gabriella's house, she did so with one arm leaning out onto the door, the rain trickling on her tanned arm as she turned the corner into a nice little neighborhood.

She looked around at all the houses; she couldn't help but feel jealous of them all. Here they were, all locked up tight in their rooms, probably completely unaware of the rain outside, while here Taylor was, driving through like an invader in this nice place with her beat up car, with one hand out the window just to feel the rain falling down. She pulled up next to Gabriella's house and stepped out breathing in the cool smelling air. Everything seemed to be better on this side of town; the entire atmosphere was all around superior to the hole that she was forced to live in. She pulled her bag out of the back of her car and made her way up to the front door, walking in without even knocking, something that she had been doing for quite some time now. They didn't even notice, let alone care. Taylor was there so much it was like she lived there, and oh how she wished she did. However as she walked into the Montez household, she found herself walking into madness.

"ALEX! ALEX DID YOU USE MY CURLING IRON AGAIN? I TOLD YOU NOT TO, YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT MY ELECTRONICS!" Gabriella's mom screamed through the house coming out the bathroom, she was dressed in a skirt and blouse with her hair still in a towel. She didn't see Taylor come in as she marched across the living room to the foot of the stairs. "ALEX! I KNOW YOU HEAR ME!" she screamed that same phrase over and over until finally a loud shriek was heard followed by Alex coming over by the stairs and leaning over the ledge, "Yes sis, I used it, but girl it was so nice I couldn't resist, mine is all beaten down and old, and I have to use my good one at the hair salon! I unplugged it didn't I?" Sure enough as Taylor looked up over at Alex you could see that her usually straight black hair was tainted with free flowing curls, and in Taylor's opinion, looked amazing. But neither of the two sisters had even seen Taylor standing in the corner trying to muffle her giggles as the two argued like…well…sisters. "No you did NOT unplug it Alex! You never do!" Gabriella's mom wailed as she turned around to see Taylor standing there, her face changed instantly to a look of sheer frustration to that of surprise and happiness. "Taylor! I didn't know you were staying over this weekend!" She said politely as she walked towards her.

"Oh, well, if its not a good time—" Taylor replied quickly, already clutching her bag. "—Oh Taylor don't be silly, it's always a good time, its just…as you can see," she gestured towards the towel on her head, "I'm getting ready to go out and SOMEONE!" she screamed towards the short Mexican girl standing at the top of the stairs, "Took my curling iron without permission, so will you excuse my disheveled look?" Taylor was about to reply when Alex spoke from the top of the stairs again, "Yo Tay," she lifted her head as to say hello, "and please girl, you're lucky. At least she got a chance to put make-up on before you came over here, now THAT looks _disheveled_." She said the last word in a mocking tone which caused a glare from Mia, Gabriella's mom as she walked back into her room, and a small giggle from Taylor's mouth to escape before Gabs herself came over to the foot of the stairs next to Alex.

"Hey Tay, come on up, we have it all set up for you upstairs," she said smiling

"By set up you mean Alex's stuff? For styling my hair right?" Taylor asked casually as she busied herself by grabbing her bag and walking to the foot of the stairs.

"Right, styling, ya," Gabs said just as casually as she gave Alex an evil look and they both headed towards her room with Taylor not far behind.

A couple hours later Taylor was sitting in a chair it Gabriella's bathroom not entirely sure what had happened. She was just in their room, when all of the sudden she had been talked into cutting her hair? From what she could tell as she looked down Alex hadn't taken much off the length, but as she felt the top portion of her head and there were straight bangs going across her forehead. She glared up at Gabriella who was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Her eyes then shifted over to Alex who was straightening her hair, a few pieces at a time.

"Really Taylor, it looks amazing," Gabriella assured her with a smile. Taylor didn't know how it looked; they had her turned away from the mirror. She was not entirely convinced she would like what they were doing, she was already making plans to stop buy the nearest wig shop so she could shave it and get something that actually looks good. She was about to reply with a snarky comment on how she was tricked into this fiasco when Alex chirped in, "Ya girl, you look hot. This is so much better than your whole, _headscarves are my one and only_, thing you do"

"…I like my headscarves," Taylor said pretending to be hurt by that comment. Gabriella giggled and looked away as she pulled out her phone and sent a text message.

"Anyways!" Alex said as she combed through Taylor's now straight hair, "You, oh hot one, are now ready for that one boy you have your eye on." Alex winked in Taylor's direction and set her comb down and backed up, having to stand in the bathtub to get a good look at Taylor due to the smallness that was Gabriella's bathroom.

"What boy are we talking about?" Taylor asked looking from one girl to the next. The two relatives exchanged looks and rolled eyes at the same time. "Ok that was slightly creepy don't do that again," Taylor said in reply to the simultaneous eye roll, "And what boy are we talking about here?"

"Oh come on!" Gabs said as she adjusted herself on the side of the tub, "We all know you got a little something for Chad, it's been obvious for a while now." Taylor looked at her best friend in disbelief. "Are you kidding, I've been so mean to that boy how is that at all obvious?" she looked embarrassed and her dark complexion was growing slightly red with all this talk about Chad. Gabriella answered a text message before turning back to Taylor and saying, "That's what is so obvious, you are trying so hard to show that you don't like him that everyone can tell you do, and after that whole car ride incident there is no convincing me otherwise, and he likes you. You should go for it!"

Alex got out from where she was standing on the tub and adjusted Taylor's hair a little, "Girl you should see your face, its about as red as a black girls can get, why don't you just admit it what's so wrong with liking this boy?"

"Nothing!" Gabriella cut it before Taylor could say something, "He is actually quite sweet once you get past his ego problem! Plus he is tall, and he's athletic, and he really likes her, she is just insane and can't see why she should give it another try!"

"Gabs, Alex!" Taylor yelled slightly in the bathroom to calm the two girls down, "Ok maybe I do," she paused and ran it all through her head. She though about how weird it was to admit that she did in fact have feelings for him, in fact they were quite strong. "But!" she added, "I don't want to go out with him I mean remember the after party where he got totally wasted and then I was left to walk home because you were too busy with Troy, that was such a jerk off move."

Alex turned towards Taylor, "Is this the same after party that happened oh I don't know, eight months ago!?" Taylor nodded. "Well then girl you need to get over that, he's grown up a bit, I mean you guys are seniors now, give him another chance for crying out loud you only live once! Have some fun, get some action!" Taylor stifled a laugh as she looked at Alex who was now dancing with the comb in her hand, "Action? Whoa first we go from small crush to now I'm getting action, this relationship is going way to fast for me and I don't even have one yet!"

"Come on Taylor," Gabriella said snapping her phone shut after answering a text message, "Just go out with the guy!"

"Ok A-no. And B- he hasn't even asked me recently! So why am I getting hammered for something I have no control over?" Gabriella simply rolled her eyes as another text came in and she opened her phone to answer it, "Well you at least admit you like him right?" This caused Taylor to sigh and roll her eyes as she answered, "Yes, I like the boy, a lot. Ok?" A smile rose to Gabriella's face as she pounded on her phone keys with her thumbs and sent another message, "Ok." Before Taylor could reply Alex cut in, "Girl you are done, which is good because you are hot enough already and I think I almost burned you up right here." She pushed Taylor out of the seat who was forced to stand and turn around to reveal what those two girls had done to her hair. She was actually taken aback by how good it looked. She ran her fingers through her incredibly soft brown hair as she inspected every inch of it. The bangs that ran around her forehead were straight and evenly cut and her hair when straightened hung down way past her shoulders. She smiled into the mirror looking at Alex and Gabs who were proudly smiling and playing with her hair.

"Thanks guys this looks…amazing," Taylor said flipping it once or twice. She looked as Gabriella got yet another text message and turned around to answer it. Taylor finally turned away from the mirror to look at her best friend, "Gabriella who are you texting you have been on that phone all night." She said trying to look over her best friends shoulder only to have Gabriella turn the other way so she could not see what she was typing, "I'm talking to Troy," she said simply before sending another text. Now it was Taylor and Alex's turn to roll eyes at her as she looked at them innocently, "What?"

"You talk to him all the time Gabs, you have been on that phone for two hours, haven't you run out of things to talk about?" Taylor did not understand what made those to ga ga for each other but they seem to always have to be together, and when they weren't, Gabriella's fingers were flying over that cell phone talking to him constantly.

"Not as of late we haven't," Gabriella said smiling mischievously at Taylor.

"What is that look for?" Taylor said suspiciously, "What are you two talking about?" She asked eyes widening slightly as she thought she might have a clue what it was.

"That's none of your business," Gabriella said sending another text before stuffing her phone in her pocket.

"Oh my god you told him what I said didn't you!" Taylor said panicking slightly. Gabriella's face was totally guilty as Alex backed away slightly not wanting to get into this one, however a broad smile was growing on her face.

"Maybe I said a few things but Taylor—"

"Oh my god what if he tells Chad and then…oh my god!"

"Well Taylor actually…" Gabriella faded out looking so incredibly guilty Taylor couldn't stand it.

"Gabs?" she asked looked at her best friend, "What did you do?"

Gabriella smiled and looked at Taylor, she was excited for her friend, "Go see for yourself," she said pointing out of her bathroom door and into her room, where through her balcony door you could see a light on in the backyard. Taylor looked back at Gabs and Alex who were just smiling innocently as she slowly made her way to the balcony door and opened it, stepping outside onto the now dark and chilly terrace.

Down below leaning on a tree was Chad feeling slightly nervous, although he could hide that well with his ego. He looked over to the side where his best friend was hiding behind a tree pointing up the balcony and whispering, "Go, go, go!" Chad stared up at Taylor who still hadn't spotted him and who was looking rather confused and slightly cold as she scanned the yard. Chad stepped out into her line of vision, "Hey Taylor," he said with one of his smiles. Taylor looked slightly surprised to see him standing there in Gabriella's backyard, she wanted so badly to look back and glare at Gabs but she held back and smiled at Chad, who actually looked quite good this evening.

"Hey Chad, what are you doing here?" she asked innocently, she could feel Gabs and Alex's eyeing her as they sat on Gabriella's bed listening in.

"Well," Chad said taking a step back to get a better view, "I heard from a little birdie that you have quite a thing for me," he flashed his cocky smile as he looked up at her twinkling eyes, although they were forming into a mocking glare at the moment. However she knew she was caught, there was no turning back now.

"Oh really?" she said leaning on the balcony ledge, "Would this birdie have a name? Or perhaps two? And who even says this birdie is right?" her eyes had adjusted now and she could see a lot better, that included Troy hiding behind the tree.

"Well that doesn't really matter now does it, the point is you have the hots for me so I hear, which you know…one cannot deny ones true feelings," He walked over to the side of the balcony still on the ground, leaning against the long vine held up by the woven wooden supporter.

"Oh really?" she said smiling, now playfully messing with him, "Did one say this herself?"

"Yes in fact, _one_ did. Now one must go out with me, just on one tiny date," she crossed his arms and looked up at her. She couldn't believe he had come here with Troy to Gabriella's house, no guy had ever done this for her, she was rather flattered although wouldn't show it. But that didn't mean she was ready to go on a date with him. She didn't know if she could trust this guy, she wasn't good at trusting people…sure it was just a tiny date but what if it led to more? Could she handle that? She felt it best that she turn him down.

"Is that your twisted version of Shakespeare or something?" she asked smirking at him from above.

"If I say yes will you go out with me?"

"Nope."

"Ok then it was mindless babble."

"That works better anyways."

"Come on Taylor," he said, his smile not fading, "Don't make me get desperate."

"Desperate? What are you going to do?" she was laughing slightly at how ridiculous this all seemed to be. But she looked down to see Chad with his hands firmly on the vine supporter, starting to climb up. He jaw dropped as she saw the boy climbing the rickety contraption.

"Uh—um Chad? Chad, that's not really stable…Chad get down from there, Chad, Chad!" She watched helplessly as the guy climbed half way up and then stopped and looked at her, "Ill get down if you agree to go out with me," he said calmly hanging on with one hand about eight feet off the ground. Taylor looked at him desperately, she didn't want to go out on that date but she didn't want him to fall either.

"Chad no! Just get down!" She yelled down below at the poor curly haired boy and she could see Troy laughing and texting Gabriella who was not far behind in the house listening to the whole thing. He didn't budge but suddenly the supporter gave a huge CRACK as you could see the wood bending under the boys weight, and he just climbed higher.

"OH MY GOD CHAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Taylor screamed paniking.

"It would be so sad," he paused to re adjust his hands, "For me to fall to my death over one silly date." He smiled up at Taylor who shook her head in disbelief.

"You are insane!" she yelled down at him

"Why because I like you?"

"No because you are going to get really hurt…and wont be able to play if you fall." He looked at her from the dangling vine and said, "It's worth it."

Taylor stared at this boy in disbelief. Was he for real? Was he seriously dangling almost twelve feet in the air for her?

"Chad no it isn't get down from there I'm not going out with you," she was now leaning far over the edge yelling at this guy, and light in the neighbors house went on.

"I'm not going down until you agree to go out with me." Taylor was shocked, why was this guy not giving up? _He must really like me._

"Chad…I'm not going to go out with you."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"NO!"

Suddenly the wood supporting the vine gave another huge crack. Chad almost lost his balance and for a few seconds was only holding on with one hand, Taylor let out a loud scream that caused more lights in the neighborhood to go one. Without thinking she blurted out, "FINE ILL GO OUT WITH YOU JUST GET DOWN FROM THERE!" She couldn't believe what she just said. Tonight was turning out like she would have never expected. First she admits she _really_ likes the guy and next thing she knows she just agreed to go out with him. She watched as Chad smiled and quickly climbed down, then jumped the last five feet to the ground.

"Pick you up at seven tomorrow?" he asked

"Chad, that's Sunday, it's a school night."

"Fine then, next Friday Ill pick you up at your place at seven."

Taylor felt a jolt of panic enter like a rush of cold water, "A-actually, actually I'll be at work still, so just pick me up there," she was lying but she didn't care, if she was going to go out with him, he sure as hell was not going to see where she lived, that would be mortifying.

"Ok then, see you later Taylor,"

"See you later Chad…oh and remember, I still don't like you," she smiled at him and waved goodbye and he smiled back, "Ya whatever." And with that he was gone out of the fence, Troy not fair behind. Taylor couldn't help but smile as she looked up into the starry sky, she had a date with Chad Danforth, he just climbed an unstable vine for her. He just almost fell for her.

She had a date with Chad Danforth. _I have a date with Chad Danforth._


	5. First date awkwardness

The sound of a car being turned on was heard in the distance as Taylor cleaned up the dirty apartment.

"TAYLOR YOURE SO STUPID SOMETIMES YOU KNOW THAT? YOU ARE THE MOST WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT I COULD HAVE ASKED FOR!"

His voice trailed in her mind as she picked up the newspaper and tossed it in the garbage can. Her hands shook as she finished up and walked over to the window. She watched her dad clumsily pull out of his parking spot, already part way drunk. Before he had realized the mess that was the house, before he had called her a worthless piece of shit she had told him she would be home late that night. After all, it was Friday, the night of her date. She thought better of telling him, considering it didn't take much to piss him off now a days whether her was wasted or not, so instead she told him she had a really important meeting at the school about raising money for the Acadec program. He said he couldn't make it and that he had a meeting at work. Taylor gazed at the street as she watched him turn left…his work was to the right. She shook her head as he drove off to the local bar.

Her dad had changed over the past months. She thought about this as she pulled three twenties out of her wallet and put them in the pocket of his dirty pants, knowing he would find them and at least have enough money to make rent. She had had to up it now since he rarely went to work. She assumed they kept him around because they knew about the situation. She almost hoped they would fire him to teach him a lesson. But the thought of what he would do to her when he came home angry like that made her shudder. You could see it in his eyes; he wasn't the same man she used to know. Even when he was not drunk he was angry now. He no longer looked at her and her sister like they were daughters anymore, to him they were just one more annoyance he had to put up with to get through the day. He no longer looked at Taylor and told her that she looked exactly like her mom. He came home, insulted, and left, then came home and did the whole routine over again before passing out. Taylor was strong and didn't let it get to her half the time; she just silently nodded and went off to do her list of chores. Today she had let it roll off her back, she would dwell on it later, but for now, she had a date to prepare for.

She walked into her cramped room and found Neveah playing with her dolls, something she always did when her dad was home, Taylor was good at getting Neveah out of there and taking the blame. Her sister looked up at her and put her doll down.

"So where are you really going tonight?" she asked as she hopped off the bed and put her doll in the closet. Taylor glanced at her sister stupidly before answering, "How do you know I wasn't telling the truth?"

"Because you play with your rings and you pull your hair behind your ears when you lie, you've been doing it since I can remember."

She gave her sister another weird look before answering again, "You're crazy I do not."

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Then where are you going tonight Tay?"

"I told you I'm—" her hand subconsciously traveled to behind her ear as she said, "to an Acadec meeting." She paused and watched what she had done and shot her hand down. "Fine you win," she said as she sat down bitterly.

"Where you going?"

"I have a date."

"Oooohhhh! With whoooooo!?" Her sister giggled as she crossed her legs on top of her bed and looked at her big sister. Taylor grabbed a pillow and hit her with it.

"No one!" she yelled as she hit her softly, "just some boy from school, his name is Chad."

"Is he coming over?" she asked dodging the second blow of the pillow.

"Nope, maybe next time," she said while pulling her hair behind her ear, silently cursing her now found out habit. She stood up and going over to her closet and picking out her outfit, which of course included her shoes, she barely went up to his shoulders without them. She did her hair and makeup with the help of Neveah before going off to her work.

Meanwhile Troy was sitting on a brown beanbag chair in the corner of Chad's room as he shuffled through his closet.

"Dude I can't believe she actually said yes to you," Troy said laughing as he reached into a bag of chips and ate some. He wiped his greasy hands on his practice jersey.

"I think it was more of a reflex after the whole vine thing cracked," Chad replied as he came out with a couple nice shirts.

"Ya Gabs hasn't told her mom about that one yet," said Troy as he licked his fingers.

"Ok man," Chad said holding up a blue stripped shirt and a plain black one, "Which one should I wear?"

Troy looked up at his best friend in disbelief, "You did not just ask that."

"Dude come on I'm serious here which one?" he replied impatiently.

"Chad are you sure you like girls?" Troy asked as he stuck his hand in the bag again and smiled at his best friend wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut the fuck up Troy I'm serious!" Chad said frustrated as he threw a pillow at him.

"Fine fine fine!" Troy said dodging the pillow, "The black one…don't know why…it just has a nice vibe to it."

Chad tore his own sweaty shirt off that he had worn to practice and pulled the black one on, buttoning it up. He walked up and stole a chip from Troy who glared at him as he walked into his bathroom and put cologne on. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath. He was so nervous for tonight. He was never nervous, ever. He was kind of known as a smooth talker at his school. He had hooked up with a lot of girls, but he had never been serious about them. Taylor was different and he liked that, he wanted a challenge. He walked out of the bathroom and turned to Troy, "How do I look?"

Troy sighed as he rolled the bag of chips up and placed them in his own secret stash that he had in Chad's room and stood up.

"Dude, you look fine. But really," he said while placing a hand on his friends shoulder, "She is just a girl. You've had a lot of them. Chill out."

"Yes but this one's different man, she is…different,"

Troy laughed at his friend as he grabbed the car keys off the desk, "Yes she is, she is a nerd, so try not to say the same adjective in one sentence, or she might get bored."

Not noticing the fact that his friend was being sarcastic Chad instantly stammered out the next sentence, "Re-really? Do you think…should I carry a thesaurus with me?"

Troy got wide eyed and stared him down, "Ok you need to calm down, that would be bad. Act like you would if you were going out with any normal girl, and my god get a grip dude, you're acting like a pansy." And with that he left his friend in his room and left while texting Gabs.

Chad got in his car nervously to pick up Taylor at her work, why she would be at her work he did not know, but he didn't ask questions as he pulled in and saw her waiting by her car. He pulled up beside her beat up '91 Camry. He got out quickly to open the door for her.

"Hey Chad," she said slightly. They both leaned in like they were going to hug. However one hesitated and one pulled away and it ended up being way awkward. _Great way to start Taylor. _She slid into his car and waiting for him to get in.

"Hey Taylor how was your day?"

"It was good," she lied playing with her rings.

It wasn't long before they got to the restaurant and they were seated. The awkwardness died down as they began an actual conversation.

"So tell me about your family," she asked.

"Mom named Annalisa, Dad named Mitch, I have an older brother who is at UCLA on a swimming scholarship, his name is Jared." Chad said while picking at the food he was almost done with, "How about your mom and dad, your family."

Taylor shifted awkwardly in her seat. She didn't really want to pull out the whole my mom is dead card on the first date, that would be incredibly awkward. _Maybe he wouldn't ask me back out after that right? Which would be convenient because I am definitely not going out with him again, waist of my time. I can't believe I agreed to go out with him. Wow, his eyes are really deep…and brown…a lovely brown. And oh God his shoulder muscles…mmm..wait. No! Bad Taylor! _ She decided to say, "Well my dads name is Mike, and I have a sister named Neveah," she prayed he wouldn't say anything about her mom.

He did look at her funny, but chose not to test it so instead he asked, "Neveah? That's an uncommon name."

"It's heaven spelt backwards," Taylor said casually, "My mom picked it out, long story." She bit her bottom lip. That was an opening for him to ask her why she didn't mention her just now or something like that. She silently prayed again.

"That's pretty tight. I wish my parents were that creative. Although if I mentioned it my parents they would probably say something like _Chad, we would have named you Lleh._"

A smile spread over Taylor's nervous face and she instantly started to laugh. She hadn't laughed since last time she was at Gab's house; it was funny how he seemed to make her at ease.

"Lleh," she said still smiling, "Very funny."

They finished their food and he payed before she could even protest. They got back into his car and drove to her work. On their way they talked about a lot of things. Troy and Gabriella and their constant need to be in touch with one another, basketball, Acadec, and more about her sister who Chad decided he really wanted to meet. He pulled into the parking lot of her job and jogged around to open her door. She humored him by staying in there so he could.

As they walked to her car, their hands brushed up against each other's in the awkward I-want-to-hold-your-hand-but-I-wont way. She smiled lightly at each other and Taylor leaned against her car while saying goodnight.

"So I actually had fun tonight Chad," she laughed slightly as he looked deep into her eyes, she asked a question that had been bugging her for a while, "Chad?"

"Yes?"

"Would you really have hung there until I said yes?"

Chad stared into her deep brown eyes, for a second forgetting the question, but snapped out of it. He answered slowly a slight smile creeping out of the corner of his mouth.

"Taylor, I really like you. There is something about you, so yeah, I would have hung there…as long it took."

Taylor stared at him, trying to see if he was genuine. No guy had ever put this much effort into getting her attention. The only guy she was used to was her father who was currently passed out at the bar most likely. She didn't know what to make of it, whether to run or stay, cry or laugh. By her silence he panicked and tried to cover his sudden emotional statement.

"I mean," he laughed, "Like you really could have resisted me much longer."

Taylor gave a weak smile and then he asked her if he could see her again. Despite her head going _NO, NO, NO! _Her stomach did a flip and she smiled brighter, lighting her eyes up.

"Yeah…yes…yes you can." She smiled up at him.

It was his turn for his stomach to do a back flip. He smiled down at her. He got the sudden urge to kiss her. His breath quickened as he leaned in slightly, then, he pulled back and coughed awkwardly.

She grabbed her keys out of her purse, and leaned in too…for a hug. They lightly embraced each other before she stepped into her small car. She was about to shut it when Chad turned around.

"Hey Tay?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still not like me?" He smiled slyly while walking backwards towards his car.

She smiled too; putting her keys in her ignition, "Better believe it." She closed her door and drove off smiling the whole way.

**A/N: I know, I suck. Believe me I feel bad. But I have a lot of stuff going on with school softball and school in general and really I had no motivation, and without motivation, they wouldn't be good stories anyway! **


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